In early June I photographed this pair of ox beetles (Strategus antaeus) with my good friend James Childress. We have two species of ox beetles in East Texas. Strategus antaeus is smaller, with proportionately longer, pointed horns. Strategus antaeus is much larger, with blunt tipped horns. S. antaeus is primarily a species of the coastal plain, with East Texas marking the southwestern limit of its range. It occurs in open, sandy woodlands, savannahs, and prairie openings. The large horns of the male are used in combat to with other males to win the favor of a female.

Strategus antaeus

In mid June I visited one of my favorite vegetative communities: the herbaceous hillside seep. This particular site is on private land that is managed by a combination of fire and mechanical clearing. Historically these communities would have been kept free from woody vegetation through a combination of frequent lightning-ignited fires and poor, saturated soils. These communities are home to a variety of rare and interesting species including carnivorous plants and a variety of orchids. Pictured below are Pale Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia alata) and blooming Pinewoods Rose Gentians (Sabatia gentianoides). I hope to highlight this community more in a future blog entry.

Herbaceous Hillside Seep

One of the herbaceous seep’s most striking summer displays comes from the Bog Coneflower (Rudbeckia scabrifolia). This rare plant is confined to extreme eastern Texas and western Louisiana. Here it’s habitat has all but disappeared over the past century and a half.

Bog Coneflowers bloom in a herbaceous hillside seep.

Similar to the herbaceous hillside seep, but occurring in areas where fire historically did not penetrate is the forested seep. These areas are locally known as “baygalls” in reference to two typically dominant species: Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) and Tall Gallberry Holly (Ilex coriaceae). Like the herbaceous seep, baygalls are home to many rare species. Pictured here are the blooms of the toxic Virginia Bunchflower (Veratrum virginicum). These handsome plants may reach a height of 7 feet.

Virginia Bunchflower blooms in an East Texas baygall

Another impressive summer bloomer is Physostegia digitalis, one of the false dragonheads. They can reach heights of six feet or more and bear dozens of pale pink flowers. Like the Bog Coneflowers, they are a species endemic to the West Gulf Coastal Plain, and are limited to East Texas, western Louisiana, and extreme southwestern Arkansas. They are quite common in East Texas, existing in open sandy woodlands and highway right-of-ways.

Physostegia digitalis

Physostegia digitalis

Ongoing survey efforts for the extremely rare Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni) on private land produced this Northern Scarlet Snake (Cemorphora coccineacopei). Though they may be locally common in appropriate habitat, their preferred habitat, which includes sandy longleaf pine savannahs, xeric sandhills, and similar habitats has all but disappeared. Scarlet snakes are specially adapted for burrowing, and they spend most of their time below ground. In East Texas their greatest periods of surface activity seem to coincide with the peak season for reptile nesting. During this time they seek out their favorite prey: reptile eggs.

Northern Scarlet Snake

Northern Scarlet Snake

I photographed this jewel beetle (Acmaeodera sp.) as it went about unwittingly pollinating Woodland Poppymallow (Callirhoe papaver).

Acmeodera sp.

This has been a good year for Eastern Featherbells (Stenanthium gramineum). I prefer landscape shots that showcase their whispy blooms over detailed shots of individual flowers. Eastern Featherbells is one of a suite of species typical of the eastern United States that reaches it southwestern limit in the Pineywoods of East Texas. It seems to be uncommon to rare throughout most of its range.

Eastern Featherbells in a dry-mesic forest.

A number of milkweed species bloom in the height of summer. One of the more easily overlooked species is the Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), whose tiny flower clusters hardly look like blooms from a distance.

Whorled Milkweed

The Federally Threatened Neches River Rosemallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx) occurs in just a few East Texas Counties. It can be differentiated from the similar Halberd-leaved Hibiscus (Hibiscus laevis) by the dense hairs on its calyces.

Neches River Rosemallow

As the Texas summer wears on, spending time outside becomes more and more unpleasant, however some of our most interesting species are most active and easiest to see in these sweltering months. I look forward to seeing what July has in store.

May saw four more species crossed of my 2017 list of biodiversity goals, including my first animal. While I am lagging behind on my list, I was able to capture images of some interesting species not on my list, as well as some beautiful landscapes. The following are the target species I was able to photograph in May:

I explored a variety of habitats in May, however it was largely dominated by forays into a number of xeric sandhills. Both the Smooth Jewelflower and Centerville Brazos Mint make their home in these unique communities, and more information can be found in their blog entries linked above. The following images are of a pair interesting West Gulf Coastal Plain near endemics.

Prairie Milkvine (Matelea cynanchoides)

Scarlet Penstemon (Penstemon murrayanus)

Each year in May I look forward to visiting the wetland pine savannahs and hillside seeps of the Big Thicket. This is the peak bloom time for the spectacular Grass Pink Orchid (Calopogon tuberosus). In East Texas, they typically grow in the company of the carnivorous Pale Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia alata) which captures insects in its tubular leaves. Here they are trapped and slowly digested to provide nutrients to the plant so that it may thrive in otherwise nutrient-poor soil.

Grass Pink Orchids and Pale Pitcher Plants

While I was photographing the orchids, Carolina found this blooming Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) at the margins of a baygall nearby. The sweet aroma of these large flowers fills the air for much of May.

Sweetbay Magnolia blooms at the margin of a baygall.

While exploring a wetland near my house I found a large patch of blooming Lizard’s Tail (Saururus cernuus). Though I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph this scene, and returned later. Lizard’s Tail grows in a variety of shallow wetlands.

Lizard’s Tail blooms in a forested wetland.

We spent our fair share of time among the Longleaf Pines as well. My friend James spotted this Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus). The common name glass lizard comes from this genus’s propensity for caudal autonomy. This is the familiar action of a lizard dropping its tail in response to a predator threat. In the glass lizard, however, the tail makes up over half of its body, and contains several fracture points. This can result in an individual seeming to break into pieces when being captured by a potential predator. Though they may seem fragile, careful, gentle handling helps ensure that they remain in tact. Though they are typically associated with sandy habitats, they are not proficient burrowers, but rather “swim” through dense grasses.

Slender Glass Lizard

Slender Glass Lizard

While on a gem/mineral hunting expedition Carolina and I spotted this Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) nectaring on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Spicebush Swallowtail nectaring on Butterfly Weed

The impressive blooms of the Giant Coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima) can sit atop stalks that might reach 8 feet tall. R. maxima is endemic to the West Gulf Coastal Plain. In East Texas it occurs in scattered populations in open woodlands and prairie pockets.

Giant Coneflower

Carolina spotted this Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) while we were photographing Giant Coneflowers along the roadside. To me this is one of our most beautiful larval insects.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

Pointed Phlox (Phlox cuspidata) is primarily a species of Central Texas, however it enters Deep East Texas in the understory of Longleaf Pine Savannahs, where it is much less common.

Pointed Phlox

Fire is an integral part of maintaining Longleaf Pine Savannahs. In the image below Butterfly Weed can be seen blooming following a prescribed burn.

Butterfly Weed blooms following a prescribed burn

I found this flowering Groundnut (Apios americana) in a park near my house.

Grountnut

Growing near the Groundnut was this Anglepod (Gonolobus superosus). This member of the milkweed family (Asclepiaceae) forms vines in open woods and forest edges.

Anglepod

Our close friends James and Erin recently built a cabin on their 200+ acres in Angelina County. The property contains pasture, fallow fields, mixed pine-hardwood forest, a forested stream, and several ponds. It makes for excellent herping opportunities. During our visit we went out to see what we might turn up.

Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum)

I caught this large, attractive Yellow-bellied Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster) at one of the ponds at night. For those who have never caught a water snake, they are notoriously foul-tempered and have an extremely offensive musk, which they promptly rub all over their captor. It makes handling them an unpleasant experience, but I’m glad we hung on to this one for photos the next day.

Yellow-bellied Water Snake

Yellow-bellied Water Snake

After catching we continued to walk along the pond. It wasn’t long before Carolina called out that she had seen another snake. I rushed to her spot and saw the head of a Gulf Crayfish Snake (Regina rigida sinicola) poking through the aquatic vegetation. I quickly grabbed it. We held onto it as well, and the next day we had a photo session with both snakes nearby. When we were done, we released the snakes where we caught them.

Gulf Crayfish Snake

Gulf Crayfish Snake

May provided several excellent opportunities for nature observation and photography. I look forward to what June will bring.

This is one I have wanted to see for a long time. Utricularia purpurea is an aquatic, carnivorous plant that inhabits much of the Eastern United States. It barely enters Texas in the extreme southeast portion of the state, where it is rare. I suspect that very few people have seen the Purple Bladderwort here, as the few known populations are not particularly easy to access. Pursuing the photographs seen here was a true adventure, and the highlight of my 2017 quest for biodiversity thus far.

Purple Bladderwort

The Purple Bladderwort has a peculiar distribution, not unlike that of another species on my 2017 list, the Blue Lupine. In the case of the bladderwort I suspect that its distribution can somewhat be explained by the presence of appropriate wetlands in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains, and in glacially formed depressions in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions.

County-level distribution of Utricularia purpurea from http://www.bonap.org. Yellow counties indicate that the species is present but rare.

To see this rarity, I once again called on the good people of the Nature Conservancy of Texas. Wendy Ledbetter, Forest Project Manager, told me that U. purpurea had been reported from a series of flatwood ponds on one of the properties they protect. It was, in fact, very close to where I photographed Streptanthus hyacinthoides a few weeks ago. She was kind enough to take time from her busy schedule to meet me one morning and show me the areas where it had been reported. She brought me to two spectacular flatwoods ponds. We were unsure if any of the elusive carnivores would be in bloom, but sure enough, after minimal effort I spotted one, then another, then another.

Purple Bladderwort

After showing me around for a couple of hours in the morning, Wendy had to leave to tend to other engagements. I thanked her profusely, both for her time and consideration, and for the fine work that she and her colleagues at the Nature Conservancy have done to protect so much our great state’s incredible biodiversity. After Wendy left I returned to the ponds to try to capture some unique images of this spectacular little plant. I was trudging through water that was mostly between 1 and 3 feet deep. To capture some of these images I had to sit, kneel, or completely submerge myself in the water, with just my hands and camera above the surface.

Purple Bladderwort

As previously mentioned, and eluded to in the title, Utricularia purpurea is a carnivorous plant. It contains intricate leaves that float just below the water’s surface. These leaves are loaded with small air-filled bladders that help keep the plant afloat. Each bladder is equipped with a small, hair-like trigger. As tiny aquatic organisms swim by and brush against the trigger, the bladders instantly open, and as the water rushes in to occupy the vacant airspace, the organisms are sucked in. The bladder then snaps shut, trapping them inside where they are slowly digested. In the late spring through the summer the lavender flowers emerge from the depths. U. purpurea is one of several species of Utricularia in Texas, but it is the only one with purple blooms. The others are all yellow.

Purple Bladderwort. If you look closely you can see some of the round bladders under the water.

The flatwood ponds in which I photographed the Purple Bladderwort that day were the finest I have ever seen. These unique aquatic communities occur in clay-bottomed depressions where over the millennia water and organic material have accumulated. Historically they were dominated by a variety of grasses and sedges, kept free from woody encroachment by regular wildfires. In the modern era of development and fire suppression, however, high quality examples have all but disappeared. They have persisted on this Nature Conservancy property, however, as a result of their excellent stewardship which includes frequent burns that penetrate into the ponds. Scattered trees, mostly Swamp Tupelo (Nyssa biflora) exist on the margins, but the centers of the pond are open for acres.

Unfortunately I did not take any photos looking toward the center of the ponds, however I did capture the photo below looking back to the margins. I found U. purpurea to be most common among the grasses and trees along the ponds’ margins.

Flatwoods pond margin

I spent what must have been at least 15-20 minutes lying on my belly, almost completely submerged in the water in order to get a low angle on a particularly attractive grouping of Purple Bladderworts. After finishing I began to retrace my steps out of the pond. As I did, I noticed something that was not there on my way in. There was an 8-9 foot alligator laying on the bottom not 20 feet from where I was laying. I suspect that its sudden presence was a coincidence, and that it hadn’t been slowly stalking me, but none-the-less it gave my heart a good jump. Fortunately the water was shallow and clear, giving me a clear view of the magnificent creature, otherwise I was likely to have stepped on it. I slowly made my way around it, and it never moved. Though somewhat difficult to see, you can make out its head and part of its back in the photo below.

American Alligator

The Purple Bladderwort shared its ponds with its cousin, the Humped Bladderwort (Utricularia gibba). Like Utricularia purpurea, it also relies on the bladders of its submerged leaves to obtain nutrients from animal prey.

Humped Bladderwort

There were several other interesting aquatic species in the flatwoods ponds, but the Floatinghearts (Nymphoides aquatica) really stood out. It is also commonly known as the Banana Plant for its banana-shaped roots.

Floatingheart

Floatingheart

The flatwoods ponds were surrounded by a spectacular series of xeric sandhills occurring on ancient sand deposited by rivers as they changed course over time. I spent some time exploring these beautiful communities, where I found a number of Eastern Prickly Pears in bloom.

Eastern Prickly Pear blooms in a xeric sandhill

Eastern Prickly Pear blooms in a xeric sandhill

I also took a moment to photograph the Pickering’s Dawnflower (Stylisma pickeringii), another species typical of deep sands, as it bloomed among the cacti.

Pickering’s Dawnflower

As if all of the above wasn’t enough, in the morning Wendy and I observed this Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) up to its anti-predator high jinks. It spread the ribs of the anterior portion of its body creating a hood-like effect similar to that of a cobra. This behavior has earned it the colloquial name of “spreading adder”. Occasionally it would feign a strike, but never attempted to actually bite me. Eastern Hognose Snakes feed primarily on toads, and have specially-adapted pointed fangs that can deflate toads that fill themselves with air in an attempt to make themselves larger to avoid being swallowed. They also contain a mild venom that likely helps subdue their prey, though it is harmless to humans.

Eastern Hognose Snake

Eastern Hognose Snake

Eastern Hognose Snake

Seeing the Purple Bladderwort and exploring these incredible habitats is an experience I will never forget. I can’t wait to return in the future to spend more time among the carnivores (large and small) of the Big Thicket.

Spring came early this year, with many wildflowers blooming as much as three weeks earlier than in an average year. It has made planning botanical outings to find species on my 2017 target list a challenge. Fortunately I had some help with Chaptalia tomentosa, the first species that I would check off the list. Someone on a Facebook group I moderate (Texas Flora) posted an image of one looking for help identifying it.

Woolly sunbonnets is a species of the coastal plain, ranging from North Carolina to extreme eastern Texas. It occurs in herbaceous seeps and wetland savannahs where highly acidic soil remains perpetually saturated. These communities are typically associated with longleaf pine uplands. In East Texas longleaf pine typically occurs on sands of moderate depth. Rainfall quickly percolates through the coarse sand, however if, on its journey through the soil, it encounters a dense clay layer, it will sit or gently flow, as clays are much more difficult to pass through. Where these clay layers meet the surface, the water may pool or seep out forming a unique vegetative community. The movement of water through these areas leaches essential nutrients and organic material tends to accumulate over time. These harsh, damp habitats are home to interesting species including a variety of carnivorous plants and orchids.

Woolly Sunbonnet

I have spent considerable time exploring wetland pine savannahs and forested seeps in East Texas, but never in the early spring. Spurred by the image posted on Facebook my wife, Carolina, and I visited some locations of specimen records and other areas that I knew had suitable habitat. I am lucky to have such a great adventuring companion. Carolina not only makes for great company, she also has excellent eyes and spots my targets more frequently than I do.

Woolly Sunbonnets

Also known as the Pineland Daisy, Chaptalia tomentosa is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The white blooms open midday under warm, bright conditions. This is an adaptation shared by many plants in order to maximize exposure to potential pollinators. At night and on cool days when most pollinators are not active, the flowers close in order to protect the pollen and the plants’ sexual structures. We were lucky to find many open flowers on our outing, and mostly cloudy skies made for ideal photographic conditions.

Woolly Sunbonnets

Chaptalia tomentosa was not the only species active in the bog. Fresh spring pitchers of the Pale Pitcher Plant (Sarraceniaalata) were beginning to emerge and the unmistakable red rosettes of sundews (Drosera spp.) covered the ground. One particularly quirky plant, the Small Butterwort (Pinguicula pumila) was blooming alongside the sunbonnets. This tiny carnivorous plant has concave leaves lined with hairs coated in sticky enzymes. When an unsuspecting ant or other small invertebrate comes into contact with the enzymes they find themselves stuck as the leaf envelopes them like a hot dog bun.

Small Butterwort

White Bog Violets (Viola lanceolata) were also blooming. This attractive little flowers are common in areas with saturated soil.

White Bog Violet

While walking through one of the wetland pine savannahs Carolina called out that she had spotted a frog. Sure enough, at least 50 feet away was a Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea). Resting on the bleak winter vegetation, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Green Tree Frog

After an eventful day photographing vernal bog flora Carolina and I ventured to the adjacent longleaf pine uplands to enjoy the sun’s final rays and the day’s retreat into night. There is something about a high quality longleaf pine forest and its associated seepage communities that provide me with a feeling of wonder and excitement that is sought after yet elusive for so many. As the light faded away we returned home, content in a day spent in some of our state’s most biodiverse habitats.